St Andrew By The Bay Catholic Church

 

    St. Andrew by the Bay began simply in 1959 by 20 residents from Cape St. Claire as a Catholic club.  By 1963, planning and fund raising began to build a chapel on a small parcel of land that had been donated in the Cape St. Claire community. 
Construction started in June 1965 and the first mass was celebrated on Christmas Eve, 1966. Known as 'Our Lady of the Cape' the church was part of St.Mary's Parish in Annapolis,MD.

As the church grew, fund raising continued to purchase land for a larger home to better accommodate the now 500 families. In 1977, the present site was purchased. On July 1, 1981 it was announced that the church had been granted parish status. The new name 'St. Andrew by the Bay' was overwhelming selected. A groundbreaking ceremony on the site was held in March 1985 and the first mass was celebrated in March 1986. In July 1990 a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Parish Center, which was completed and dedicated by Cardinal William Keeler then Archbishop Keeler in November 1991. Our current pastor is Rev. Stephen Gosnell.

St. Andrew by the Bay has grown tremendously since its humble beginnings. Currently, our parish family is 1200 plus families strong. Most significantly, parishioner involvement is at an all time high!

Our PREP program organized and administered by Sr. Mary Teresa Day since 1985, now numbers over 700 students. Vacation Bible School was added in the summer of 1994. A pre-school program for 3s, 4s and pre-kindergarten was started in the fall of 1997 under the direction of Ms. Laurie Phipps. Projected enrollment for the upcoming school year is 78 children. Ronnie Weidenhammer leads our Pastoral Minister of Youth Ministry program.

Our Music Ministry includes an adult and youth choirs, a hand bell choir as well as a group of instrumentalists led by Dr. Kathleen DeJardin. Stephany Crane leads the children's choir and Bob Cline leads the contemporary ensemble.

Many parishioners are involved in the Christian Formation Committee and Liturgy Committee. The Administration Committee oversees the financial aspects of our parish.

The parish reaches out to others through its sister parish affiliations with St. Martin of Tours in Baltimore and St. Francis of Assisi in El Salvador. St. Andrew through the Outreach Committee oversees numerous activities such as My Brother's Pantry, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Habitat for Humanity, Justice & Peace Chores & More, Health Ministry, Respect Life and St. Ambrose Project.

The Social Events Ministry is the umbrella for several organizations such as the Ladies of St. Andrew, Separated & Divorced and the Welcoming Committee.

In 1995, the Knights of Columbus formed a St. Andrew by the Bay chapter. They have been responsible for raising thousands of dollars to benefit many worthwhile programs. Most recently, two scholarship funds were created to help students from our parish attend area Catholic schools and our preschool.

As we continue to grow, these and other activities will help us to fulfill our mission to be a 'Joyful Sign of God's Reign.'